NYWIFT Blog

What’s In Your Toolkit: Maria Miles

Entertainment attorney Maria Miles extols the joys of Diet Coke and how with her laptop, cell phone, and wifi, she can work anywhere in the world.

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Margarita Sophia Cortes

Publicist Margarita Sophia Cortes is always on the go to support her clients - with her "Mary Poppins" bag in tow. She took a five minute break from the rat race to tell us what she keeps in her toolkit.

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Kathryn O’Kane

"In this increasingly digital age, I still really like to work on paper," says television director and producer Kathryn O'Kane. Learn what else is in Kathryn's toolkit!

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What’s in Your Toolkit: Grace Kim

NYWIFT is excited to launch our fun new Friday blog series, "What's in Your Toolkit?" where we ask women in the industry about the tools - both literal and figurative - they rely on to get the job done. For our first edition, we caught up with writer/director Grace Kim on the run before her film's screening at the Hamptons International Film Festival.

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Cynthia’s Picks: Emmy Noms, Tom Donahue, Member News

Emmy Noms: Congrats to all the NYWIFT members nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards this year! Can’t wait to watch and cheer you all on.  Tom Donahue: Check out this great interview with NYWIFT member Tom Donahue on his recent documentary This Changes Everything (exec produced by Board President Simone Pero) and the importance of male...

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Member Spotlight: Magdalene Brandeis, Director of Stony Brook Killer Films

In the throes of finals and gearing up for next semester, we had an opportunity to talk shop with the Director of the Stony Brook Killer Films MFA in Film program (& NYWIFT member) Magdalene Brandeis  about how the program is turning the film school model on its head. 

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Member Spotlight: Oscar-Nominated Producer/Director Lisa Cortes with Two Films at 2019 Tribeca FF

Oscar-nominated producer (Precious) and director Lisa Cortes makes it look so easy at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival with TWO films making their world premieres, including the festival opener. As producer of the documentary The Apollo, the NYWIFT member took a few moments to chat with us on our “Women Crush Wednesdays” podcast about what...

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Celebrating the Spirit of NYC Artists at the Greenwich Village Film Festival

Alessia Gatti is a true "woman calling the shots," having grown the Greenwich Village Film Festival from a single night showcase to a multi-day, sold-out event that’s starting to get the notice of A-list actors and entertainment execs alike over the course of just four years. Stephanie Cole speaks to her about how the festival pays tribute to New York's most famous neighborhood for creatives.

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Terry’s Picks: Rule Breakers, DOC NYC, Carole Chazin

Rule Breakers: Listen to NYWIFT member Jennifer Fox and Board President Simone Pero, writer/director and producer respectively of The Tale on the “Rule Breakers” podcast. Jennifer and Simone talk about the film, the layered consequences of sexual abuse, what we can do to protect others and the journey to healing. DOC NYC: I am thrilled...

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Gaia Visnar on channeling her own search for home into her character in The Basis of Intimacy

NYWIFT member Katrina Medoff spoke with fellow member Gaia Visnar, an actor and producer for the short film The Basis of Intimacy, which was made by a female-driven and largely international crew. They spoke about the power of a silent film and what conversations Visnar hopes to spark with the film.

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You’re The Pest creator Taylor Coriell on collaboration, inclusion and her new comedy web series

NYWIFT member Taylor Coriell is the executive producer, co-creator and co-star of the new comedy web series You’re The Pest. Fellow member Leah Curney, who is currently developing her own web series, sat down with Coriell to chat about the joys and challenges of being a multi-hyphenate creator.

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Report from Tribeca: Isabella Olaguera on AD’ing, Celeb Encounters and Breaking into the Biz at 14

New Jersey-based assistant director Isabella Olaguera has worked professionally on over 50 feature films, television shows and commercials since 2010 – including an Oscar-nominated short. She has every right to brag, but she’s been keeping a big secret: she’s only 20 years old! She may very well be the youngest member of New York Women in Film & Television. Isabella discusses her work as the 2nd AD on the indie feature film All These Small Moments, a coming-of-age tale shot entirely in NYC, which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival this month.

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Terry’s Picks: Pilot Season, Tribeca 2018, Diversity Wins

Pilot Season: Women are directing 24 of the 75 broadcast TV pilots this year, which amounts to 32 percent. This is a huge improvement – last year, only 6 out of 70 were directed by women. Tribeca 2018: We have so many NYWIFT members with films headed to Tribeca this year – be sure to...

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Misha Calvert on creating her relatable dating web series Tinder is the Night

NYWIFT member Katrina Medoff speaks to fellow member Misha Calvert about creating, executive producing and starring in her new series Tinder is the Night, which explores the joys - and horrors - of online dating.

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Meet the New Board Members: Tracy Daniels

We get to know independent producer Tracy Daniels, a longtime member of the NYWIFT Special Events, Programming and Archive committees, and one of the newest additions to the Board of Directors.

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#SummerHours Throwback Thursday (#Pride Edition): The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love

NYWIFT #SummerHours offers its first Throwback Thursday - #Pride Edition! - with this sweet '90s teen rom-com.

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Heather Taylor on Crowdfunding for Pay to Stay and the Importance of Onscreen Diversity

"I want to have representation across different sexualities and different races in my films because that is the world I see when I walk down the streets of New York," says NYWIFT member Heather Taylor. Katrina Medoff sat down with Taylor to talk diversity in filmmaking (both onscreen and off) as her crowdfunding campaign for her horror short Pay to Stay draws to a close.

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Starless Moonlight’s Lesson on Making Your Production Shine Brighter: Q & A with Casting Director Angela Mickey

After Moonlight won the Oscar for best picture, casting director and NYWIFT member Angela Mickey had some insights on what independent filmmakers and can learn from its casting.

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